Tool for inserting dental wedges



July 9, 1963 c. R. DOCKUM 3,096,585

TOOL FOR INSERTING DENTAL WEDGES Filed June 5, 1961 FIG.

INVENTOR. CHARLES R. DOC/(UM BY K ATTORNEYS.

United States Patent TOOL FOR INSERTING DENTAL WEDGES Charles R. Dockum, 424 Alta Pine Drive, Altadena, Calif. Filed June 5, 1961, Ser. No. 114,880 1 Claim. (Cl. 32-40) This invention relates to a tool for inserting dental wedges between the teeth.

Dental wedges made of wood in the shape of triangular pyramids are well known. They are used singly or in pairs to spread apart adjacent teeth to aid in certain dental manipulations. However, their insertion has sometimes been more difficult than need be, because they get slippery when wet, and are quite small and difficult to grasp with the fingers or with conventional-tools. Accordingly, it is an object )of this invention to provide a tool which particularly is adapted for the handling of these wedges, whereby the wedges are firmly held by it with the wedge point projecting laterally from the tool sothat the wedge can conveniently be inserted between the teeth.

A tool according to this invention includes a base, a backing wall rising from the base, and a clamping arm mounted to the base. The clamping arm has at its free end a fork which includes a pair of tines. This fork is movable toward and away from the base by the arm, and overhangs the base. In use, the larger end of the wedge is pressed against the backing wall, with one of its sides resting on the base, and with a dihedral angle facing the fork. The fork is moved toward the base so that its tines straddle and embrace each of the sides of the dihedral angle forming the said-edge, and the wedge is thereby firmly held by the tool with the point projecting away from the backing wall.

According to a preferred but optional feature of the invention, the tines are laterally spaced from the backing wall, whereby when a wedge is placed in abutment with the backing wall, a portion of the dehedral edge overhangs the tines to aid in retention of the wedge.

According to still another preferred but option-a1 feature of the invention, a ridge rises from a central portion of the base, so that there is a base on each side of it, a backing wall is provided on each side of the ridge, and a fork overhangs each base, whereby wedges may be placed under either one of said forks, there-by enabling the same tool to be used for the right hand or left hand installation of wedges.

The above and other featurm of this invention will be fully understood from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a tool according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial top view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken at line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a right hand end view of the device of FIG. 1

FIG. 5 is a cross-section taken at line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a dental wedge adapted to be inserted with the tool of FIG. 1.

FIG. 1 shows a tool 10 which constitutes the presently preferred embodiment of the invention. It includes a handle 11 which may conveniently be formed of hexagonal stock and a base member 12 integral with the handle and preferably forming an obtuse angle therewith. Bases 13, =14 are located on the base member at each side of a ridge 15 which rises from the base member. Ridge 15 extends longitudinally of the base, the longitudinal axis being indicated by arrow 16.

Backing walls 17, 18 are formed on each side of ridge 15. They are located adjacent to bases 13 and 14, respectively.

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The bases, ridge and backing walls are conveniently formed by milling slots on each side of the base member.

A clamping arm 19 includes a flexure member 20 which is attached by screws or pins 21 to the base member (or handle as preferred). It is made of flat spring blade material, and extends out to an end 22 which overhangs the bases. A lever member 23 is fastened to flexure member 20 by rivets 24. End 25 of the lever member extends axially to the left of point 26 on the lower portion of the arm which point may be considered the fulcrum point of the arm. V

Flexure member 19 and lever member 23 constitute the clamping arm, and the springiness of the flexure member biases its free end toward the biases. It will be recognized that there are many other types of arm mountings which would perform the same function, and which lie within the scope of this invention. The embodiment shown has the advantage of easy sterilization'and rugged construc: tion.

T wo forks 27, 28 are formed at end 22 of the clamping arm by turning under flexure member 20' to form tines 29, 30 for forks 27 and 28, respectively. The portion of lever member 23 adjacent end 22 is turned down to form tines 31, 32 on lever member 23 for forks 27 and 28, respectively. Times 29 and 30, and tines 31 and 32, are spaced from each other by slots 33 and 34 so that the inside edges of the tines are laterally spaced from the backing walls. The tines form a dihedral angle 35 of a size to be discussed below.

A dental wedge 36 with which this device is intended to be used is shown in FIG. 6-. It is a triangular pyramid having a flat base 37 and three sides 40, 41 and 42 which extend to a point 43. Some dental wedges extend to a sharp edge instead of a point, but all of them include a dihedral edge 44 formed by two sides, such as sides 40' and 41 (see FIG. 5) of the wedge.

The use of the tool should be evident from the drawings, particularly FIGS. 1, 4 and 5. To place a wedge in the tool, end 25 of the lever member is pressed down, which will move the forks away from the bases. Then, depending on which way the wedge is to face, it is placed with its base against one of the backing walls, as in FIG. 4, and one of its sides, such as side 42, against a base. Then the lever member is released and the forks move toward the bases.

The tines embrace the dihedral angle at a location laterally spaced from the backing wall, so that the dihedral edge overhangs a portion of the tines. For example, observe the situation at point 45 in FIG. 4, where contact is shown between the tines of one of the forks and the dihedral edge, with the dihedral edge rising to the right away from the contact. This is an assistance in retention of the wedge by the tool, and the wedge cannot readily be removed therefrom without pressing on the lever member.

The dihedral angle formed by sides 40 and 41 of the dental wedge is usually of the order of about 30 and this will also be the approximate angle between the tines. Preferably the angles will be about the same, but this does not seem to be critical. The angle formed by the tines should not appreciably exceed the dihedral angle of the wedge, but it may be somewhat less if a closer embrace and better wedge retention is preferred. It does not appear to be necessary to twist the tines so that they will lie flat against the sides of the wedge, although that could be done if desired.

This tool as illustrated enables wedges to be inserted to the right and to the left with the same tool. If only one direction of insertion is desired, then separate tools could be provided for each, and in that case only one backing Wall and one base would be provided for the tool.

7 The feature best illustrated in FIG. 4, wherein the tines 3 are laterally spaced from the backing walls, is optional and preferred. It is not essential to the functioning of the invention. The principal retention is provided for by the clamping action between the tines and the base, the backing wall enabling the wedge to be shoved laterally by the tool. However, the tool as shown with this feature does have a significantly better grip on a wedge than one without it.

This invention is not to be limited by the embodiment shown in the drawing and described in the description which is given by way of example and not of limitation, but only in accordance with the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A tool for inserting the point of a triangular pyramidal wedge between teeth comprising: a base having a longitudinal axis; a longitudinally extending ridge rising from the base at a central portion thereof; a longitudinally extending backing wall on each side of the ridge, a clamping arm mounted to the base comprising a flat spring blade attached to the base with a free end biased toward the base; lever means for moving the said end away from the base comprising an elongated member attached to a medial portion of the clamping arm and extending longitudinally beyond the point where the clamping arm is attached to the base; a pair of forks, one on each side of the ridge, each fork including a pair of tines, the tines being formed by turned-down ends of the clamping arm and lever means, said forks being mounted on said arm at a distance from the point at which the arm is mounted to the base, said forks being adapted to be moved toward and away from said base, and overhanging the base, whereby the larger end of the wedge can be placed against the backing wall with one side resting on the base on one side of said ridge and a dihedral edge facing one of the forks, and the said fork can be moved toward the dihedral edge so that its tines embrace the sides of the dihedral angle forming the edge, thereby holding the wedge in the tool, with the point of the wedge projecting from the tool away from the respective backing Wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 243,105 Chase June 21, 1881 745,071 McKibben Nov. 24, 1903 1,380,232 Metcalf May 31, 1921 

